1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to compounds, compositions and methods for inhibiting corrosion of metals and more particularly to oil-based corrosion inhibitor compositions and their use in inhibiting metal corrosion.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The prior art literature is replete with descriptions of a wide variety of methods and compositions for inhibiting the corrosion of metals, particularly ferrous metals. One U.S. patent which is representative of the prior art descriptions is the U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,491 (Trautmann, et al., Sept. 25, 1984) which describes a class of alkanolamine salts of cyclic amide acids as corrosion inhibitors. An earlier U.S. patent is U.S. Pat. No. 3,095,286 issued June 25, 1963 to Andress, Jr. et al. This patent describes the anti-rusting effect of a nadamic acid (derivative of nadic anhydride) when used as an additive in petroleum distillate fuels.
The massive bulk of literature on this subject over many years, is itself evidence of the lack of complete satisfaction with methods and compositions heretofore available to the artisan. The lack of full satisfaction is due to a broad variety of factors, such as cost, inefficiency of method, toxicity of compositions, relative ineffectiveness, incompatibility of compositions, and difficulty in handling.
The present invention is of a new class of compounds and compositions found to be effective anti-corrosion agents, compatible with oil based systems. The invention then is an expansion of corrosion inhibitors, useful in particular applications.